


you let me win

by damnmysterytome



Series: kastle week fics [5]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-08 02:43:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6835732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damnmysterytome/pseuds/damnmysterytome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karen & Frank play cards at the prison (again).</p>
            </blockquote>





	you let me win

Whenever it storms, all Karen really wants to do is lie under her covers in her bed and hide from the storm, but she's not a child anymore and that is unfortunately not an option. She can't call off work anytime it looks like it might storm, even though she's sure that Matt and Foggy would understand and let it happen. Hell, they both might show up at her apartment and hang out with her. That's who they were.

But Karen is not in her apartment, she's not with Matt and Foggy. She's not even at the law office. Karen is sitting across from Frank Castle in an interrogation room, her head ducked down as she scribbles down facts from the stories he's telling her. She's trying not to think about the forecast for the day, focusing on the words Frank is saying. She's just hoping that the walls of the building are thick enough that whenever the first thunder roars, she won't be able to hear it.

No such luck.

She knocks over her plastic cup of coffee when the thunder shakes the walls. “Oh, fuck, shit, dammit.” Karen curses and jumps to her feet, picking up some of the papers in the path of the coffee. “Sorry, sorry.” Karen says.

Frank doesn't respond until Karen's used what napkins are in her purse to wipe up the coffee as best as she can and she's sitting across from him again. Karen doesn't even think that he moved while she was cleaning up spilled coffee.

“Don't like storms?” He asks. Karen looks up at Frank and shakes her head.

“No, no, I don't.”

“Hmm.” Frank mumbles as Karen turns back to the notebook in her hands. It's stained in coffee now and she can't make out most of her notes. She curses again and rips the paper from the notebook and grumbles it up. They're going to have to start over completely.

“Start from the beginning.” Karen says and looks back at her notebook.

Frank doesn't speak for a few moments, clearing his throat when he does. “Why don't you like storms?” He asks. Karen glances up at him from the notebook and raises an eyebrow. She tells him again, to start from the beginning. “I don't want to start from the beginning, tell me why you don't like storms.”

“I just don't like them, does there need to be a reason?” Karen snaps and taps her fingers along the table. She doesn't want to get into the reasons of why she hates storms. That's not important. “Look, Frank, your trial starts in a few days and -”

“It can wait. You've gotta wait out the storm anyway, right?” Frank says, shaking his head. His eyes linger on Karen for a moment and he clears his throat. “You got those cards still?”

One of the last times Karen was here, they had played cards together. Karen had beat him every round and by the time they were done, Frank said he was never going to play the game again.

“Thought you said you wouldn't play with me again.” Karen says with a laugh.

Frank shrugs his shoulders and looks away from her. “Take your mind off the storm, right?”

She smiles softly and sets the notebook aside and reaches for her purse. Karen pulls out the cards and lifts them up in her hand, tugging them out of their box and shuffling them. She deals out ten cards each and sets the rest between them, flipping one card over.

They spend a few minutes sorting out their cards before Frank takes his turn, picking up and discarding a card. She doesn't need it either, so she takes her turn. They go back and forth a few times before Frank speaks.

“Why don't you like storms?” He asks again. “Know you said there ain't a reason, but there is, isn't there?”

Karen looks from her cards as she picks up a card Frank discarded from his hand and sighs. “I don't really... There was a night I was home alone when I was a kid, I didn't want to go to some event my brother was doing, basketball game or something. So my parents let me stay home and.. It stormed.” She says, looking out the window at the guards as Frank stares at her. She doesn't need to look at him to know he's staring at her. “It was really bad... Wind picked up one of our outside tables and threw it at the glass, right where I was standing.”

He takes his turn with his eyes still on her, not even looking at the card he discards. “Were you hurt?”

Karen shakes her head and turns back to look at him. “No, I wasn't hurt. Just scared out of my mind, but... This was before my parents had cell phones so I couldn't call them. They came home to find me under the table, crying, and our yard a mess.”

“How old were you?”

Karen glances up at Frank over the cards. “That's not important.”

“10?”

“It's your turn, Frank.”

Frank takes his turn, discarding a card without looking at it. “11?”

Karen rolls her eyes and reaches forward to pick up a card to see if she needs it. She doesn't, it's discarded. “Shut up, Frank.”

His lips turn up in a bit of a smile and he takes his turn, actually looking at the cards to see if he need sit. He doesn't, so he discards it and checks the last few cards that he discarded without looking at. “12?”

“I hope you blow this trial.” Karen grumbles and picks up another card, discarding it moments later. Frank takes his turn and glances at Karen as he slips the card in his hand, discarding one.

Frank's lips turn up in a smile again and he chuckles. “Feisty.”

Karen rolls her eyes and returns to their game of cards. They go through the rest of the deck with no winner and Karen groans. “You must have my card.” She says, setting down the cards she has. She reaches over to grab Frank's cards and frowns as she looks at them. “You won, asshole.” Karen says and turns the cards over.

He shrugs and pulls the cards close to him, it's his turn to deal. It's harder with the restraints, but what is he going to do about them?

“I can't believe that you were hiding that! How many times have you actually won a game and just let me think I won!?” Karen narrows her eyes as Frank as thunder roars but she barely acknowledges it.

Frank glances at her when she barely acknowledges the thunder. It seemed his plan had worked in full.

 


End file.
